1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to animal traps and, more particularly, to an improved animal trap that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and that requires only minimal maintenance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traps for the capture and confinement of animals have been used for many years. Consequently, there have been many animal trap designs and/or refinements thereof produced over the years. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,887,381, 2,787,082, 1,911,919, 1,726,493, and 371,693 all disclose various animal trap designs. To familiarize the reader with some of the relevant prior art, a brief description of these prior art designs is now given.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,381, Tieben discloses an animal trap that includes a housing with an entry port and a pair of animal-actuated, gravity-lowered doors that are successively mounted within the entry port such that each door opens inwardly only. The pair of successively mounted doors are coupled to each other to substantially prevent the innermost door from opening when the outermost door is in a closed position, thereby preventing an animal confined within the housing from escaping.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,082, Paschen discloses a rat trap that includes a container with an open end where a one-way gate is located which is adapted to be pushed aside by an entering rodent and then returned to its original position so as to prevent egress of the rodent from the container. The gate includes a flexible wire mesh curtain and a several independently movable stiffening rods upon which the curtain lays. When the rodent enters the container the curtain forms to the contour of the rodent so as to prevent the escape of any previously captured rodents.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,919, Molls discloses a trap that may be collapsed into a small compass for transportation and storage purposes. When the trap is deployed in its operable fashion it consists of a rectangular housing with at least one open end having a pair of animal-actuated, gravity-lowered doors that open inwardly only. One of the doors maintains a plurality of fines so as to prevent an animal from backing out of the housing.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,726,493, Kelley discloses an animal trap that employs a depressible platform to control the movement of certain doors in a trap housing. When an animal is drawn onto the platform with bait, the platform effects the closure of a door in a manner such that the door may only be reopened when the animal advances further into the trap housing through a series of interacting doors which prevent the animal from escaping.
In U.S. Pat. No. 371,693, McKay discloses an animal trap that includes a rectangular housing with an open end. At the closed end of the housing bait is displayed on a lever that is connected to a plate by a rod. The plate holds a pair of inwardly opening doors in an open position until an animal enters the trap and moves the lever when trying to remove the bait. When the lever is moved, the plate releases the doors such that they are closed, thereby preventing the animal from escaping.
Although all of the above-mentioned prior art traps provide certain means of capturing animals by employing a series of inwardly opening doors within a housing, none provide for the capture of animals by employing a series of inwardly opening doors in a non-co-linear manner within a housing so as to greatly limit the egress of a captured animal. Furthermore, none of the above-mentioned prior art traps combine this non-co-linear door placement concept in an easily constructed and maintained trap housing along with doors that are substantially prevented from being opened by the captured animal through the use of a unique slotted pivot region concept. It would therefore be desirable to overcome the shortcomings of the above-mentioned prior art traps in these areas, while providing an inexpensive and easily constructed and maintained animal trap.